1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a carbon dioxide gas laser oscillator which can estimate the composition ratio of a laser gas.
2. Description of Related Art
In general, laser gas which is used for a carbon dioxide gas laser oscillator is mainly composed of carbon dioxide gas, nitrogen gas, and helium gas. A laser gas obtained by mixing these gases at a predetermined composition ratio is provided to a laser oscillator. An apparatus is known in which, for supplying such laser gas, a gas flow channel for supplying a carbon dioxide gas, a gas flow channel for supplying a nitrogen gas, and a gas flow channel for supplying a helium gas are provided, and a laser gas having a predetermined composition ratio is generated in a laser gas mixing vessel by opening and closing the valve of each gas flow channel (see, for example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 6-244478).
However, as is the case with the device described in the above-mentioned Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 6-244478, even when a laser gas having a predetermined composition ratio is generated in a laser gas mixing vessel, the composition ratio of laser gas circulating in a laser oscillator changes, and therefore in some cases it is difficult to operate the laser oscillator. In such cases, the composition ratio of laser gas needs to be obtained by using a gas component analyzer or the like, and it is not easy to obtain the composition ratio by using such a component analyzer.